Exploring Leibniz’s Religion and Philosophy of Religion: Essays in Honour of Maria Rosa Antognazza (1964–2023)

Dear Colleagues,

Religion loomed large in virtually every aspect of Leibniz’s work: Yvon Beleval (2005, 241) once claimed that no matter which part of Leibniz’s thought one begins with, one soon reaches God. Leibniz himself insisted that, in spite of his great achievements in various other fields of learning, particularly mathematics, his chief concern was in fact theology. His manifold writings attest to this. In addition to his Theodicy (1710), Leibniz penned numerous essays, notes, and letters on matters of religion and theology, enough to fill many volumes, and theological topics formed the heart of his correspondence with many of the luminaries of his day, such as Pellisson, Bossuet, von der Hardt, Landgrave Ernst von Hessen Rheinfels, and many more.

In spite of this, scholars in the Anglophone world paid relatively little attention to Leibniz’s religious writings and ideas for much of the 20^th century. However, a number of detailed studies published over the last three decades or so, such as those of Adams (1994), Antognazza (2007), Backus (2016), and Rateau (2019), have sparked great interest in the place of religion in Leibniz’s thought. The proposed Special Issue of Religions seeks to further these investigations with a suite of high-quality essays focusing on any aspects of Leibniz’s religion and philosophy of religion. With the greater availability of Leibniz’s writings on religious matters, both in their original language (see Leibniz 1923-, especially recent volumes in series I, II, IV, and VI) and in English translation (see Sleigh 2005, Strickland 2016), there is now the scope to deepen our understanding of the role played by religion in Leibniz’s thought.

The range of potential topics is vast, including (but by no means limited to) theodicy, optimism, Church unification, the Catholic Demonstrations project, arguments for the existence of God, biblical criticism, engagement with non-Christian religions, as well as his thoughts on many Christian doctrines, such as the Trinity, Incarnation, purgatory, and resurrection of the dead.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor ( [email protected] ) or to the Religions Editorial Office ( [email protected] ). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

Tentative completion schedule:

• Abstract submission deadline: 31 August 2023
• Notification of abstract acceptance: 15 September 2023
• Full manuscript deadline: 15 July 2024

References:

Robert Merrihew Adams, Leibniz: Determinist, Theist, Idealist (Oxford University Press, 1994).
Maria Rosa Antognazza, Leibniz on the Trinity and the Incarnation, trans. Gerald Parks (Yale University Press, 2007).
Irene Backus, Leibniz: Protestant Theologian (Oxford University Press, 2016).
Yvon Beleval, Leibniz: Initiation a sa philosophie (Vrin, 2005, 6th edn).

1. W. Leibniz, Sämtliche Schriften und Briefe, edited by Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 8 series, each divided into multiple volumes (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1923-).

Paul Rateau, Leibniz on the Problem of Evil (Oxford University Press, 2019).
Robert C. Sleigh Jr, Confessio philosophi (Yale University Press, 2005).
Lloyd Strickland, Leibniz on God and Religion (Bloomsbury, 2016).

Prof. Dr. Lloyd Strickland
Guest Editor

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• Leibniz
• religion
• philosophy of religion
• theology
• theodicy
• optimism
• evil
• church reunion
• Christianity